Doves & Swans

79 4 9
                                    

After the incident at the barbecue, I just needed to chill for a while. Having Katherine show up like that just ruined my mood that whole day completely. My friends gave me words of encouragement that everything was gonna be okay. I could only hope.

It was a cloudy Sunday afternoon and I was just laying on the couch watching The Fifth Element. As a commercial came on, I began to think about my past. When my ex cheated on me. With my cousin. How my uncle died from a grenade at the army. The time my ex slapped me for hanging out with my friend, Kenny.My grandfather getting cancer.All of the thoughts just flowed and I started to cry. Loud and hard. I couldn't control my tears, for they just flowed down like a waterfall. I fell on the floor, still crying for a good hour.

My past was just too much.

JOSH'S POV

I approached the door to my house, excited to see Leah. I haven't seen her all morning, for I had to help David with his new video for YouTube. Before I could put the key in, I could hear loud crying through the door. Nervous and curious, I open the door quickly to see Leah on the floor.

Crying. Hard.

MY POV

Still crying, I could hear a door slam and footsteps coming towards me. A hand lifts up my head. I met with their eyes.

It was Josh.

" Leah, what's wrong?" Josh questioned concerned.

" My past is too much," I sobbed.

" What do you mean?" I looked away from Josh.

" So much has happened to me in the past. My ex cheating on me with my own cousin, him slapping me for hanging out with Kenny one time, my uncle dying from a grenade at the army. My grandfather getting lung cancer.It's too much for me to handle. I try not to think about it as much 'cause I know how it affects me, but it keeps coming back," I said. Josh sighed and grabbed my face with both of his hands.

" Baby, I know that you had a rough past and it's tough for you to not think about it, but," Josh stopped.

" But what?"

He smiled and looked at me. " You have to let it go."

" Really? You got that from Frozen, didn't you?" I asked a little annoyed.

" No really, you have to just let it go. That's what I did when my grandparents died together on the same day," Josh said, his smile fading.

" I'm so sorry."

" It's okay. When they died, I did something in their memory."

" What'd you do?"

" I got a t-shirt with a picture of them getting married on it."

I smile. And have him a short deep kiss.As I pulled away, an idea popped

in my head. " I know what I wanna do!" I exclaimed jumping up. Josh looked at me confusingly.

" I wanna get a tattoo." Josh's face went from confused to shocked.

" Are you crazy?! Do you know how bad those things hurt? The pain is even worse when getting it removed. I know, Travie told me and you know how many tattoos he has," Josh said worriedly.

" I wanna do this. Not for my past but for me. It's actually something I've wanted to do for a while. So can you please support me on this?" I pleaded. Josh sighed and nodded.

" Great! I'll go get dressed."

---------

Me and Josh were walking through Beverly Center. After passing through a couple of stores, we finally came across a tattoo parlor called Ink'd Chronicles Tattoo. I smiled and we walked inside. The place looked a little intimidating at first but I had to do it. Josh on the other hand looked hella scared. We sat in the waiting room until a man with a mask came up to us.

" You both wanna tattoo?" he questioned us.

" No, just me," I answered. The guy nodded and grabbed my hand.

" Follow me." I looked back at Josh and smiled. He gave me a nervous laugh and hid his face in a magazine as I walked away.

When me and the man arrived in the room he sat down and got a pencil and notepad. He took off the mask and turned to face me.

" So, what were you looking to- Leah?" the man asked.

"Kenny? Since when do you work at a tattoo parlor?" I asked shocked.

" I've been working here for a year and a half now. I've been doing so good that I've been voted best tattooer in California!" Kenny stated. I laughed.

" I never thought that you would gets tattoo, Leah. I mean, in grammar school, you were always a goody-goody. "

" Well, you thought wrong, bro."

Kenny laughed. " I guess I did. Anyways, what were you thinking about getting?" I thought about it for moment, then I got it.

" I think I want two tattoos, Kenny."

8 hours later....

JOSH'S POV

I've been sitting here for hours, waiting for Leah. Just looking around this place gave me the creeps. As I was walking around the parlor, Leah finally came out with...Kenny?

" Kenny? You work here?" I wondered.

" Yep. Been working here for a year and a half. It's a good paying job," Kenny stated.

MY POV

" Well, thanks for the tattoos, Kenny. Tell Karyne I said hey," I said. We all waved goodbye as Kenny went back to his station.

" I hope these tattoos were worth the 8-hour wait," Josh said as we exited the parlor.

" Yes, it was worth it."

" So, what did you get?" Josh asked excitedly. I giggled and showed him my wrist.

" First, I got a dove on my wrist. Then," I unbuttoned my jean jacket to reveal the other tattoo. " I got a swan on my chest. Not in the middle, just a little bit above my, you know," I said smiling.

" They're both pretty. What do they represent?" Josh asked curiously.

" The dove represents hope and the swan represents-" I thought about it for a second, then I smiled at Josh.

" Well, what does it represent?" he asked impatiently.

" Me."

Infinity Where stories live. Discover now